


Shane Madej's Death Day Party

by MercurySkies



Series: A Ghoul's Guide to Life, Death & Afterliving [2]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Fluff, Ghost!Shane, Humor, M/M, Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 13:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13789104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurySkies/pseuds/MercurySkies
Summary: 'The first thing he registers is that Tubular Bells is playing and he snorts unattractively at the joke. “Okay open your eyes!” Ryan says and the sight he’s treated to makes him double over in laughter. “Happy Death Day!” Both Ryan and Allie chorus and it’s honestly one of the best and most bizarre experiences of his life.“This is in incredibly poor taste and I love it!"'It's the anniversary of Shane's death and although it's not exactly the most celebratory of occasions, Ryan and Allie will seize any opportunity to party and potentially humiliate Shane.





	Shane Madej's Death Day Party

**Author's Note:**

  * For [meganwastaken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meganwastaken/gifts), [InkStainsOnMyHands](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkStainsOnMyHands/gifts).



> Just a small self-indulgent fic I wrote that gives a little insight into the boys' shenanigans.  
> You can check out the playlist for Shane's Death Day party [here](https://open.spotify.com/user/nidgmqxvuhkvhvwlx6bb9wi93/playlist/5k0q6g6RrT500F7FRrxSZO?si=6aWE-BeUS4aKdgqnEKQz_Qhere)
> 
> It is recommended you at least skim [A Ghoul’s Guide to Life, Death & Afterliving](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13319340) if you want to fully understand all the references here but you might be able to enjoy it without doing so too.

Shane has been kicked out of his own apartment. Okay _technically_ it isn’t his anymore since he died and Ryan’s name is on an actual lease but considering he’s mostly stuck there he still considers it somewhat his even though he contributes zilch to rent and utilities. He’s spent the last two hours wandering around the apartment complex before winding up back in his favourite spot, the patch of grass out front. He leans back on his elbows with his eyes closed and tries not to worry about what Allie and Ryan are up to. There’s no stopping them when they get going and he wouldn’t want to what with the way they’d ushered him from the apartment, smiles wide and excited.

He takes a deep breath, inhaling the scent of grass and flowers and the faint smell of exhaust fumes from the busy road beyond the parking lot. In all honesty he’s felt a little on edge all day. Today marks the anniversary of his death and it’s been months since Ryan first moved in. Time has raced by and he’s still standing still. He doesn’t particularly want to remember his death but he knows what day it is and the memory keeps coming to him unbidden, inescapable. He pays close attention to his breathing, to the phantom of a heartbeat he can still feel and tries to keep it steady and slow as he waits.

Since confronting his death the shame surrounding its circumstances has lessened some but it’s still not one of the most comfortable topics to dwell on. Most days he can forget about his lack of mortality but sometimes, especially when Ryan is close and quiet, he feels it acutely, the absence of the sensations of life so stark when he’s in the presence of someone unabashedly alive. It makes him wonder if he was ever that vibrant and he tries to look back on the person he was when he was alive from an outsider’s perspective. He supposes that he must have had some sort of energy about him if the way Allie treasures that one photo of the both of them from her birthday party is anything to go by. He just looks at it sometimes and misses life, misses feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin and the embrace of the ones he cares about. He aches to experience it all just one last time. He hates that the last true and real sensations he’d experienced had been nothing but searing pain and a cold hard floor.

With his eyes closed he hears rather than sees the door to the complex swing open. He knows immediately it’s Ryan, can sense his thrumming excitement from a mile away like a sparkler is fizzing through his veins. It always makes him smile. He opens his eyes. “We’re ready for you big guy.” He says quietly with a grin, shuffling around on the grass, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible and failing. Shane hauls himself to his feet and follows him inside. When they reach the front door of the apartment he’s instructed to close his eyes and step forward and although he knows it’s impossible for him to bump into anything the movement is still disorientating. He’s never been a big fan of not being able to see where he’s going, too many limbs with a mind of their own.

The first thing he registers is that Tubular Bells is playing and he snorts unattractively at the joke. “Okay open your eyes!” Ryan says and the sight he’s treated to makes him double over in laughter. “Happy Death Day!” Both Ryan and Allie chorus and it’s honestly one of the best and most bizarre experiences of his life (death? Existence?). The room is full to the brim with balloons and streamers and Shane is honestly blown away that they somehow managed to keep what they’ve been up to a secret from him. He takes it all in eyes wide and grin broad. “This is in incredibly poor taste and I love it!” He says, the iconic theme from The Exorcist still chiming away in the background. Part of what makes it so special, despite all the obvious time and effort, are the looks on Allie and Ryan’s faces. They shine with happiness and Shane would die all over again if it meant that they would stay so incandescently happy.

A glance in the direction of the kitchen demonstrates the party may also primarily be an excuse for both Allie and Ryan to let loose and have a good time. A ridiculous amount of effort has gone into artfully arranging snacks and Shane suspects that there’s a multitude of different varieties of alcohol to choose from somewhere. He can’t seem to stop gazing round at the place as Allie and Ryan animatedly head toward the kitchen, Ryan already pulling out a beer from the fridge. The vibe is a cross between a birthday and a Halloween party. Brightly coloured balloons bob around cheerily in the corners of the rooms and Allie’s head is adorned with a party hat at a jaunty angle. There are battery powered lights shaped like ghosts draped across the shelves and they are such an adorable addition to the apartment he hopes that they can become a permanent fixture.

It’s better than any birthday party he’s ever had that’s for sure. It’s just the three of them but the room feels fit to burst with warmth and light and laughter. It’s not really a celebration of the fact he’s dead, it’s more of a celebration of what they have, in the here and now. He wouldn’t say it’s ideal, he’d much prefer it to be a birthday party, being able to turn another year older is something he’d never before thought to be a luxury. To be able to feel the warmth coming from Ryan’s skin as he knocks back another beer and shifts a little closer would be a pretty great present.

And what death day party would be complete without a gift for the dear departed? Ryan hands over a medium sized box, red and white striped and topped with a hideously garish glitter soaked bow. Ryan practically giggles as he undoes it, like Shane is about to be let in on a joke. He has to concentrate pretty hard to be able to lift the box’s lid and take out its contents but he manages it, keeping his hands close to the couch cushions in case he loses his grip and drops it. It’s a good thing he takes such precautions because he quite frankly never wants to damage the gift in the form of a small glass jar Ryan has bestowed upon him. In his hands he holds a pink candle, the label bearing the name _Pink Sands_ , in a fancy script. He can hear Ryan laughing as he inspects it and he can’t help but grin back at him as he pops off the lid and raises the candle to his nose to smell it.

Why Ryan is finding his gift so funny probably has a considerable amount to do with the fact he is drunk and Allie unsurprisingly isn’t far behind him. Ryan has no idea how much this stupid candle means to him, how much _he_ means to him. He places it carefully on the coffee table and leans back against the cushions. Ryan has grown tired of his joke and is hauling a swaying Allie to her feet to dance. The sun is setting, the light of the infamous golden hour filtering through the living room window and adding to the romanticism as Ryan and Allie reenact the famous scene from Ghost to the sound of Unchained Melody. Shane can barely breathe from laughing so hard, it seems as though Ryan has devised the playlist for his deathly shindig to just be one big meme, jumping from Africa by Toto to Ghostbusters.

When the show is over and the playlist moves on, Allie and Ryan collapse, gasping for breath onto the couch. Which would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that the couch is a two seater. Now if Shane had been alive he would’ve lost his damn mind yes but he’d be able to play it cool. The situation is a prime opportunity to make ‘a move’. Now Shane’s never been one to think himself smooth, he has his charms but any kind of suave demeanour certainly did not and does not, come naturally to him. If he was alive he’d simply slip an arm round Ryan’s waist, sip on a beer and lean back comfortably against the couch cushions. But he’s not that smooth either. He’s also definitely not alive. So Ryan has not fallen to sit on his lap but _in_ it.

“This is... Cosy.” Ryan mumbles staring at where his arm disappears through Shane’s shoulder and Shane winces. He can’t feel it but the image is uncomfortable enough. Ryan starts essentially punching him in the chest, watching in morbid fascination as his hand disappears through his torso and then reappears when he pulls it back out. He watches him scrutinising his own movements with a curiosity that lights up his whole face. The way his nose scrunches up as he laughs at his index finger disappearing into Shane’s forehead makes his stomach flip.

Shane bats his hand away and Ryan attempts to catch his hand in his. Shane lets him, ignoring Allie’s stifled giggles as the song switches conveniently to Careless Whisper. Shane groans and both Ryan and Allie laugh raucously, jumping to their feet and immediately singing along at the top of their lungs. It’s awful, they’re awful. Ryan’s limbs are all over the place but the sway of his hips to the ridiculous sound of the iconic saxophone solo is the most bizarrely arousing thing Shane has ever seen in his life. Allie is smirking at him like she can read his mind and he’s wondering when she became such a dirty old lady _and_ if she can actually read his mind because that does not bear thinking about right now. She jerks her head in Ryan’s direction and Shane gestures frantically at himself in a way that’s supposed to communicate _“what the fuck am I meant to do, sweep him off his feet with this gangly ghost body of mine?”_ Allie shrugs unhelpfully, the worst wing woman ever. Shane watches on with a small smile, feeling mounting anxiety bubble away in his chest but before Shane can gather the courage to join them, the sounds of George Michael fade away and Shane feels himself freeze when he recognises the next song.

Fred Astaire’s voice filters through the speakers from the kitchen and Ryan bows offering a hand to Allie just like Shane had done with Ryan at the old academy and they start to waltz clumsily around the living room and kitchen, dodging furniture and tripping over each other’s feet. He watches as Allie laughs into Ryan’s shoulder and closes his eyes for a moment savouring the sound of the music and their laughter, letting warmth settle deep in his chest, storing it there as something to sustain him. When he opens them again Allie is looking at him with an unreadable expression “I think someone wants to cut in.” She says quietly with an adoring smile and Ryan nods giving her one of his own.

Ryan holds a hand out to him and Shane feels his breath hitch as he takes it and stands without a moment's hesitation. It’s just as hesitant as before, neither of them is very sure of their grip on the other but they make it work, chattering away and giggling as Ryan attempts to lead them. It’s awkward, Shane is the taller of the two but they somehow manage it with Ryan’s grace, still fit together in the strangest but sweetest of ways. Shane briefly glances over at Allie, her grin is broad and her eyes are shining with unshed tears. He wonders if this is what a first dance at a wedding is like. Ryan would look good in a tux.

They dance and dance, caught up in their own little bubble, caught between two worlds, almost touching and almost in love. The song seems to continue for an unusually long amount of time before both he and Ryan hear the click of a door closing and they both look toward it and then toward the kitchen. Ryan tugs him toward where his phone lies, hooked up to the speaker and with the song set to repeat. Next to it is a note, in Allie’s messy handwriting:

_Yes you're lovely, never, ever change_  
_Keep that breathless charm._  
_Won't you please arrange it?_  
_'Cause I love you_  
_Just the way you look tonight._

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think and you can find me [here](https://mercury-skies.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!
> 
> A big thank you specifically to Megan and Joey for being babes and ultimately being the ones to blame for most of my nonsense.


End file.
